Page 69 of The Highlander's Temporary Bride
Strange how she wanted to take them all with her and never see them again.
After the maids brought her tea and a snack, she felt a bit more revived. She had them dress her in a simple, forest-green gown and again asked for a trunk.
“It’s comin’ soon, Me Lady,” one of the maids said. “And we’ll come back to help ye pack.”
Emma watched them go, Aileas leaving last and giving her a soft smile. With a sigh, she began to sort through her smallclothes and chemises, when a knock sounded at the door.
“Finally,” she muttered and turned, expecting to see a strapping lad bearing a trunk.
Instead, Grant ducked into the room. He had not shaved, though he had pulled his hair back with a dark tie and wore fresh clothes. Emma fingered the tartan tie around her wrist—the one she’d taken from him—and then tugged down her sleeve.
“Have you come to say goodbye?” she asked before he could speak. “I’m glad. I would have hated to?—”
Grant had let out a snarl and crossed the room. As he got closer, Emma could see the shadows under his eyes and the tight lines at the corners of his lips. He looked as though he had not gotten a wink of sleep, but instead, he had gone out riding. Indeed, musk, grass, and horse sweat clung to him.
And yet, she did not resist as he pulled her against him and kissed her hard.
“Come with me,” he said when they broke apart.
“I-I’m packing,” she stammered.
Grant glared at the clothes folded on the bed, then stalked away from her and shut her door. She gasped, and he shot her an ironic look over his shoulder.
“Have we nae been alone together many times,Sassenach?” he asked as he turned around.
“But that—this is not proper, and you know it,” Emma said, going over to her bed and methodically folding clothes that she’d already folded. “I want to thank you for everything.”
“Aye?” Grant murmured, and she looked over to see him leaning against the door, his arms folded across his chest. “Then will ye stay?”
CHAPTER 28
Grant’s heartwas pounding hard as he pretended to lean against the door without a care in the world. But his every sense was attuned to Emma’s slightest movement—from the way her blue eyes widened, to the soft rush of air between her lips, to the way her hands dropped to her sides.
“Stay longer than the seven nights, Emma,” Grant said.
Emma leaned against the bed, shivering slightly, and she shook her head. “You are playing a very dangerous game, My Laird.”
Grant almost flinched.Dinnae call me that,he wanted to say. Instead, he said, “Let me explain. Come with me.”
Emma, who seemed dazed, came forward without a fight. And Grant’s heart sank at that. He’d expected some resistance or a kiss, not this pale, wide-eyed woman who walked quietly alongside him.
They managed to navigate the castle without being seen by anyone except a few servants and stepped outside into the sunlit afternoon.
Too bright, Grant mused. A storm was brewing somewhere, and sure enough, dark clouds were forming over the distant sea.
Neither of them spoke as they made their way down to the loch and then picked their way down a rocky path, until they found themselves in a cove. The sun cast a golden light over everything, sharper as the clouds grew darker, and a fork of lightning flashed silently across the sky.
“Grant—Laird Ronson,” Emma said as he turned to smile at her. “I cannot stay. You know this.”
“Stay for a month, please,” Grant pleaded and took her hands in his. “There are storms afoot, and I should make sure that our enemies–”
“And then stay another month after that, yes?” Emma cut him off, pulling her hands free.
“Aye, which is what I should have offered from the beginning. Seven nights was a fool’s bargain.”
“No,Iwas a fool to agree to such a bargain,” Emma sighed. “I was a fool to stay.”
A distant rumble of thunder sounded somewhere while they glared at each other.
